


The Silent Hero's Duty

by StFrancisdeSales



Category: Portal (Video Game), Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Genre: Calhoun is a badass, Chell is a badass, Cunnilingus, Emotionally Compromised, F/F, First Lesbian Experience, For Science!, Lesbian Sex, Lust at First Sight, Muteness, Mutism, Oral Sex, Portal/Wreck It Ralph crossover, Science, emotionally compromised hero, if you know what i mean, now you're thinking with potrals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:24:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5362964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StFrancisdeSales/pseuds/StFrancisdeSales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Strong women can accomplish anything. Including conquering their own feelings?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Trap

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was the merest whim. I adore Sergeant Calhoun with an irrational passion and since I can't have sex with her writing about it is the next best thing.

The clank of a glass pod opening and tinny, repetitive music stirred heavily outlined eyelids. Strong hands twitched and thin lips, all too used to adopting a sarcastic snarl, formed an incoherent mumble.

“Hello and, again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Centre. We hope your brief detention in the Relaxation Vault has been a pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin the test proper. Before we start, however, keep in mind...”

An obviously artificial, flat voice was carried over loud speakers. It echoed around the plain, almost medically white walls that surrounded the glass tank containing the new test subject. She grunted and one hand rose to scrub impatiently at the sleep clogging her eyes. Blinking once, she sat up and stared around, taking in her surroundings as she rose, a little unsteadily, to her feet.

“...serious injuries may occur.”

A mug, clipboard, and the radio that was still spewing that irritating music sat on a low table beside a toilet.

“Serious injuries? What in the-”

Her brain was fuzzy. She had no memories of how she had come to this place or what she had been doing prior to arrival. This frightened her, although she would never permit anyone else to realize it. The new test subject had always been absolutely confident in her ability to know what was going on every second of every day.

...until now.

“For you own safety and the safety of others, please refrain from-”

The two strong hands snapped up to covered her ears as the flat voice became garbled, mixed with what sounded like Spanish for some reason, and rose to a painful volume. Then it seemed to fix itself, and continued.

“Stand back. The portal will open in three... Two... One...”

Portal. Entrance. Movement. These were concepts the test subject understood, so she strode confidently through the shimmering orange oval, leaving all her doubt behind with the pesky music. Then she froze, something was wrong. The sound she had grown so accustomed to that she had simply ceased to notice it had suddenly vanished. The comforting thud-thud-thud of her combat boots on the floor had gone, replaced by an odd clicking noise.

Panic made her spin around. Clicking meant only one thing in her world: Cy-Bugs.

“Come on out and face me you miserable techno maggots!”

Her fists were raised, her face set in a stoic and angry mask. She was ready for battle, even though she knew she had no chance against the hoard unarmed.

Then the sound stopped.

“Hiding, huh?”

As she moved forward, seeking the scourge, the clicking began again. This time she realized the noise was coming from directly below her.

“AAHHH!”

Her usual uniform plus armour had changed and, what was worse, she hadn't even noticed until now. Ordering herself to calm down, she examined the new clothes. Some kind of... They could barely be called boots at all. More like hooks strapped to her calves. A bright orange jumpsuit rolled up to her knees.

She pulled at the chest of the jumpsuit and her lip curled back in a disgusted snarl.

“It's Sergeant Calhoun!”

Wherever she was, whoever had captured her clearly didn't have many of their facts straight. First: you did not imprison Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. Second: anyone who did manage to trap her had better have a pretty good explanation for it when she found them. And third: you did not incarcerate, lecture, and then threaten a sergeant who is used to being humanity's last defence against an insect robot horde.

With a grunt she stalked into the next room.

As the door chirped shut behind her, she whirled and grimaced as she found herself trapped.

“Darnnit.”

Turning back to the room, she surveyed a giant, red button. A dull clunk echoed through the room as a large grey box hit the floor several feet from her. She frowned and walked over to the button. Despite every effort, she couldn't find any traps, so she tried to depress the button with one hand. Nothing happened.

Cursing the infuriating room, she began to walk over to the cube that had fallen to the floor. The door on the other side of the room opened! With a grin of triumph she started toward it. Immediately the door slammed shut. She made an enraged gesture, her gaze falling down. Her path to the door had been across the red button, but released it as she moved for the door.

Stepping back onto the button she watched for the door to open again, ready to sprint the moment it- There! With lightning reflexes she charged for the door. It snapped shut the moment she released the button.

“Son of a six-legged cyber spider!"

Red mist was beginning to swirl in front of her eyes as she walked a few steps toward one wall, then back toward the box. Wait! That was it! Running to the box, she picked it up with ease and placed it on the button. The door opened.

“Excellent. Please proceed into the chamber lock after the completing each test.”

Each test? she thought to herself. How many of these “tests” was there going to be? It didn't matter anyhow, she told herself as she moved through the door. She'd escape long before the final one and then there would be heck to pay for whoever was behind all this.

“First, however, note the incandescent particle field across the exit. This Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grille will vaporize any unauthorized equipment that passes through it.”

Eyeing the shimmering barrier before her, she considered these last words with concern. Surely she was “authorized” if she were here and wearing this uniform? No time to worry. Forward. She stepped through the field and was relieved to find that nothing happened to her.

“For instance, the Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube.”

The voice ceased as she stood in the elevator. The doors closed and then, with a groan, the elevator began to move, she was not sure in what direction.

Her fists clenched as she gave another snort of fury. Heads would roll when she found the cowards who had transported her here.


	2. Chapter 2: Help

Somewhere, deeper in the facility, another orange-clad form stirred. A hiss of breath sounded as the first test subject sat up in a far-flung and darkened area. She blinked and rubbed sleep from her eyes as she peered over at a stolen display screen that glowed softly a few feet from her bed.  
Her eyes remained impassive as, for the first time in so long, she caught sight of another human. The stranger, a willowy, blonde woman, was smashing her way through the first set of test chambers with a distinct lack of finesse.  
Chell rose to her feet and drank some water from a jug nearby, careful to spill nothing. She needed to prepare herself for the task ahead. It would be tough, but she had learned well from her predecessor.  
At this thought her eyes lifted to the wall opposite her bed, constantly in view wherever she moved in the room. High on the rusty and decaying metal was a photo of a man. His dark hair stuck out in all directions above a pale and bearded face. His small shoulders were pulled in on himself, as if he wished the camera weren't directed at him. But it was his eyes she noticed every time she glanced at the picture, torn some time ago from a very old personnel file.  
Moving closer to the wall, she placed a hand reverently on the image. His eyes, a light, unassuming blue, stared out at her with a knowing, fearful look that outstripped his 30-something years, appearing more like the gaze of an 80 year old. He had the look of someone who had lived, and suffered, two life time's worth.  
Chell's own eyes closed and her head bowed. Now that suffering was at an end. The reaper had come, not in cruelty or in wrath, to his dark, grey world, and taken him away. She had not been able to find his body, but she knew in her heart that he was dead, at peace, released at last from the unending torment of his existence.  
And now she had taken up his torch and his hope. Her eyes opened and blazed at the photo as she made a fresh, silent vow. She had appointed herself guardian of every human left alive in the facility and she would see every one of them safe. This she did to honour the man she had never seen, but who had saved her life.  
Brushing aside these foolish emotions, Chell set her jaw and began her mental preparations for the ordeal ahead. Dwelling on the past wouldn't do her, nor this new test subject, any good. She removed her hand from the wall and turned from those haunting blue eyes.  
Action. Moving forward. These were concepts that didn't threaten to shatter her carefully constructed mask and so she hurried out, into the facility, in search of the tools she knew would help her save the blond woman.

Two chambers along, Calhoun stomped her way out of the elevator.

“You're doing very well. Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any test protocol, but is an unintended side-effect of the Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grille, which may, in semi-rare cases, emancipate dental fillings, crowns, tooth enamel, and teeth.”

Her eyes narrowed and she glared up at the voice. “Emancipate my teeth, will yah? We'll see about that.”  
Turning her attention back and down into the pit in front of her, she pressed her hands on the glass. As she saw what lay below, the remaining dregs of her glare changed suddenly to a wide, triumphant grin.  
There, on a pedestal, displayed for all to see, was unmistakably a weapon. She gave a grunt of triumph and strode through a door, into another short hall and through a blue portal that had just sizzled into existence on the wall.  
Leaping forward through the blue-rimmed opening, she grabbed the gun and examined it closely.

“Very good. You are now in possession of the Aperture Science Hand-Held Portal Device. With it you can create your own portals.”

“What?! Stinkin’ portals?”

“These interdenominational gates have proven to be completely safe.”

“What the fudge?!”

“The Device, however, has not. Do not touch the operational end of the Device. Do not look directly at the operational end of the Device. Do not submerge the Device in liquid, even partially.”

“You two-timing, heartless metal monster!” Calhoun yelled up at the monotone voice in rage. “You trap me in this rat's maze nightmare and then you give me a weapon that wouldn't squash a fly but will probably give me cancer?!”

“Most importantly, under no circumstances should you-”

The voice garbled into static and then cut off entirely as the newest test subject raised the ASHPD into the air, intending to smash it on the ground. Then, with a resigned grimace, she lowered it slowly, clutching it tightly in both hands. There was no point in giving up the one tiny advantage she had been given over her captors.  
Hissing her breath out between her teeth, she solved the test and stood, in moody silence in the elevator. Her pounding pulse pumped the sound of her heart into her ears.  
Is this place just for me? she thought sullenly to herself, or are there more? More... “Specimens” the voice had said.  
She ground her teeth angrily. If they thought she’d allow herself to be reduced to a mere specimen they had another thing coming. She was a sergeant, charged with the safety of her men and of humanity.  
At this thought, the proud woman stood a little taller. Her men, her platoon. She had to get back to them. She was in charge of keeping them up to scratch and, in that way, alive.  
“I'll get back to you, ladies. If it's the last thing I do.”  
Gripping the ASHPD tighter, her normally steely eyes grew even harder.

Chell's eyes were introspective as she moved and portaled her way through the interior of the facility, the bowels where the pipes and wires showed in the dimness. She was heading for a safe place, a place she had found all those years ago during her first run through the test chambers.  
Crawling up above a large pipe, she dropped to the floor in a stealthy crouch. Split in half by another pipe, the space was decorated liberally with the scrawlings of a tormented and hunted man. She tried to ignore the blood red “help” daubed prominently just inside the entrance. The word begged the world to feel some compassion. To come to his aid. To show some modicum of softness toward him.  
Chell’s fist clenched, the only sign of any emotion she might be feeling. The answer he always heard, loud and clear, was no. No compassion, no aid, no softness.  
Suddenly a curse echoed around her, punctuated by the unmistakable rapid patter of gunfire, reverberating into her from outside the den. She gave a very small smile and moved back, beside a wall, crouched and partially hidden in shadows.

Outside, in the Android Testing Course, Calhoun was pressing her back to a wall, panting as the dust from the bullet-holes settled gently to the ground behind her.  
“That was just too darn close.”  
She narrowed her eyes and took a firmer grip on her ASHDPD, her fingers beginning to grow slick with sweat. Taking a sudden deep breath, she whipped out from behind her cover and shot a portal. Then, whirling around, she took cover behind another wall.  
The experienced soldier frowned in concentration and activated the other portal, aiming it at the wall in front of her. There, showing through the swirling vortex of the linked portals, was the back of the turret. Yes!  
She grinned and kicked her foot out, violently. The resulting gunfire and pathetic whimper from the small robot were immensely satisfying. Taking courage from this first victory Calhoun continued through the chamber.  
Rounding a corner, she spotted two piled cubes, holding open a piece of the wall. She blinked in amazement. How could anything do that? Below the cubes however, was something much more arresting: one word, painted in red on the floor.  
“'Help'?”


	3. Chapter 3: Questions

She barely realized she had spoken aloud, then looked around. No robot had written that word. So it must be someone, probably a civilian, in trouble.

“Hello! Anyone who can hear me, my name is Sergeant Calhoun and I'm here to protect you. Show yourself now.”

Grinning from inside the den, Chell grabbed a nearby water canister and tossed it across the den. It soared through the air and ricocheted off an exposed pipe and then the wall with loud and echoing clatters.

Calhoun's head whipped around at the noise and she was instantly lifting the cubes out of her way.

“I'm coming. Stay calm!”

Chell saw the blonde hair first as the woman shuffled into the den, then, as she stood up, marveled at her height. Easily as tall as any man she had ever known, thin but well muscled, her strong arms held the heavy ASHDPD with ease as her eyes scanned the den systematically. Then they locked with Chell's.

In one electric moment, both women forgot their missions, their duties. They knew only that they were in the presence of beauty and they couldn't tear their eyes away.

Calhoun couldn't remember the last woman she’d seen, but surely none of them had looked like this. She was used to men. Large, square, sturdy, they reminded her of the heavier assault rifles. But this... This was a slender, elegant frame, softly curving breasts, dark hair falling around a delicate oval of a face, still hidden in shadow. This was a hand-pistol and she knew, instinctively, that if she could only hold this woman in her hands, she would never be the same again.

Chell stared, her mask almost slipping at the sight of this blonde apparition. She had been expecting a person, but before her stood an angel. Gold hair framed eyes so intense that she briefly wanted to cringe back, then felt locked in their sizzling energy. Broad shoulders only served to accentuate a tiny waist. Her legs, so lusciously curving down from her hips.

It had been so long since Chell had seen anyone else, but she couldn't remember ever feeling this way toward any human being. Her hands twitched, longing to reach out for those silken limbs, her mouth ached to taste that creamy neck.

Calhoun recovered first and her command was back in an instant.

“Ahem. Ma'am.” She inclined her head respectfully. “Are you alright?”

Nodding slowly, Chell blinked and forced her eyes back up to the other woman's gaze.

“I heard a noise.”

Calhoun stepped closer, allowing her ASHDPD to lower, trying to put this woman at ease.

Nodding again, this time vigorously, Chell beckoned to her and began climbing onto the pipe.

Frowning, the newly awoken test subject glanced back out into the chamber where androids awaited destruction at her hands.

“Where are you going?”

It was not a question, nor a request for information; it was an order for an explanation. Calhoun stood her ground, feet planted firmly, watching Chell with her eyes narrowed, trying to ignore how the view from behind this stranger made her feel knees begin to feel weak.

Chell looked up and froze as their eyes met yet again. That same spark, she felt it even more strongly this time. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and then a second time, to indicate the negative. The veteran test subject would not explain. She simply beckoned vigorously once more and climbed higher, out of the den and into the facility interior.

“Now wait just one-”

But the woman was gone. Calhoun frowned and after a moment’s hesitation, followed, mostly because she had been given little choice, and extremely grudgingly.

The blond woman was not used to anyone else giving the orders when she was around. She was the Sergeant and was accustomed to having her orders be the only things left unexplained.

Ahead she managed to see the dimly lit figure drop onto a catwalk behind the den. In an instant Calhoun had dropped beside her, feeling decidedly grumpy and impatient.

“Now look here,” she said, one hip sticking out, a habit of the aggressive woman’s when annoyed. “I'm not going anywhere with you until I hear some explaining. So let's have it.” She looked hard at the other orange-clad figure and balanced the hand that was not holding her ASHDPD on her well-defined hip.

Unable to withhold a small but ironic smile, Chell shook her head slightly and opened her mouth. Pointing in with one finger and then shaking her head again, more forcefully. Then she shut her mouth and watched for either angry confusion or angry understanding. It turned out to be the latter.

“You're a mute then, huh?”

Chell nodded, relieved they didn't have to stand around on this subject all day.

“Something happen to you? Wait, never mind. Where are you taking me?"

Chell jerked her head to one side and motioned for Calhoun to follow as she began walking away down the catwalk.

Shouldering her ASHDPD with a resigned grunt, Calhoun moved along after her.

They soon arrived at an abandoned office and Chell kicked a lid off a box to reveal many files. She plucked one from the dusty depths and placed it on the desk, face down, then she grabbed a pen from beside a computer monitor and wrote:

_ JUST SAVED YOU FROM CERTAIN DEATH _

She looked up at Calhoun, who, to her surprise and consternation gave a small, pitying smile and shook her head.

“I'm certain you think so, ma'am, but I can take care of myself. I'm sure I could have gotten myself out of any mess this place could cook up.”

Frowning, Chell’s eyes grew dark as she turned back to the paper:

_ TRUST ME _

_ YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE I MANAGED TO SAVE _

_ THEY ALL DIED EXCEPT YOU _

Calhoun's eyebrows raised in surprise as her suspicions were confirmed.

“Others? How many?”

_ THAT ISN'T IMPORTANT _

_ HAVE TO GET TO SAFETY _

_ DON'T WANT YOU INTERFERING WITH QUESTIONS _

_ ASK THEM ALL NOW _

_ QUICKLY _

“Me?! Interfering?!” Calhoun's eyes bulged at this insolence and her hand tightened into a fist. “Listen here missy, I am Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. Commander of the 53rd Cy-Bug Destruction Company and I do not “interfere”. I am in charge of you- ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!”

Glaring, Chell had stopped listening halfway through this speech and started writing again:

_ QUESTIONS NOW _

_ DON'T CARE WHO YOU WERE _

_ NOW YOU ARE TEST SUBJECT _

_ IN DANGER _

_ FOLLOW ME OR DIE _

Calhoun gasped herself into silence, gaping at the other woman who stared right back with a stubborn determination as yet unmatched.

“Is that a threat?”

Her voice was low now, a hiss. Her hand curled slowly around her ASHDPD as their eyes locked again.

Shaking her head slowly, Chell’s eyes burned with anger. Then she slammed her ASHDPD down on the desk, turned to a filing cabinet and began digging around. She pulled out a file, a report from the quick glance Calhoun got, and began rifling through the pages until she pulled one out and thrust it at the Sergeant.

Her eyes narrowed, but Calhoun took the paper from her and began to read it skeptically. Her expression changed slightly as she began to comprehend. She looked up at Chell with a shared understanding.

"So you aren't a civilian after all? You know what war is."

Concealing surprise, Chell nodded. She had expected shock, fear. She had counted on these trivial emotions to cow this blonde bombshell enough to make her compliant. But...

Calhoun looked back at the paper, her expression grim.

“We've both known death in our time."

Then she threw the paper down on the desk and tightened her grip on the ASHDPD.

"You know this place," she said, standing taller, finally recognizing seniority if not exactly superiority. "Lead the way."

Nodding, Chell finished writing:

_ ONLY THE LIVING MATTER _

_ THE DEAD CAN'T HELP _

_ ONLY HURT _

The blond woman’s eyes took on an odd expression as she nodded curtly.

_ QUESTIONS _

“What is your name?”

For the first time, her voice was softer, lower. None of the harsh brashness of the Sergeant. This was the long-forgotten Tammy speaking. She looked up at Chell curiously.

Saving humanity was first about force, but you couldn't forget the human side or you were no better than those who would destroy you. He had taught her that. Maybe it had been too long since she had remembered.

A look of mild surprise crossed Chell’s face, but she obligingly wrote:

_ CHELL _

Calhoun nodded.

“Chell, nice to meet you. I'm-”

But she was writing once more:

_ I KNOW YOUR NAME _

_ WE NEED TO HURRY _


	4. Chapter 4: Responsibility

“Right.”

Standing back, Calhoun nodded for Chell to lead her. Chell gathered up several more sheets of old, yellowing paper and stuffed them into her jumpsuit.

They emerged from the office and swiftly made their way out into the catwalks. Chell was grateful this one was so athletic. She had nearly saved another test subject a few months ago, but he had stumbled into a pit of acid even before reaching the first den.

_ But this woman _ , she thought as she glanced back,  _ she can keep pace, she can really move. Maybe, if I could convince her, we could save more subjects, together. _

The Sergeant noticed Chell watching her and met her eyes squarely, determined to show her what she was made of.

Turning back, Chell sadly admitted to herself that this duty was her's alone. No one else would be crazy enough to choose to live here forever, trapped and facing death every day, eating canned food long past its prime and sleeping in drafty holes. No. She was destined to be alone.

Slowing her jog as they reached her permanent headquarters, Chell stopped and ushered Calhoun inside.

The blonde woman stepped into the den and looked around. There was a monitoring system, all blinking and humming, obviously all stolen parts from old offices or from the innards of the testing chambers she had just left. She glanced over a crude bed next to the monitors and then her eyes fell on the shrine. She walked over to the picture and gazed at it for a moment.

“Who is this?”

Chell glanced at the photo briefly then turned away, sitting cross-legged on her pallet and placing the paper she brought along on the floor in front of her.

_ HE IS THE PAST _

_ SIT HERE SO I CAN EXPLAIN THE FUTURE _

Hearing the scratching of pen on paper, Calhoun tore her eyes away from the haunting gaze of the photograph to bend over the message. Nodding, she sat opposite Chell and looked up.

_ IT'S MY JOB TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE _

_ BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW _

_ ONLY WAY OUT IS _

She paused, pen suspended in mid-air, trying to come up with a word.

“What? Dangerous? I don't mind-” But the scratching started up again.

_ UNAVAILABLE _

_ WILL YOU HELP ME RESCUE MORE UNTIL WE CAN GET YOU OUT OF HERE? _

Calhoun began to nod and then frowned.

“You mean “us” don't you?”

Not bothering to look up, Chell just shook her head slowly and scribbled.

_ JUST YOU _

“But why? Why can't we both-”

_ THIS IS MY DUTY _

_ I MUST STAY BEHIND TO SAVE OTHERS _

Closing her mouth, the Sergeant nodded. She understood better than most what could happen when someone's duty was not done.

“How long have I been in here?”

Allowing herself a small, silent sigh, Chell wrote:

_ NO WAY OF KNOWING  _

_ COULD ONLY ACCESS PART OF YOUR FILE _

Calhoun nodded. “What year is it?”

Quickly checking a monitor, Chell wrote:

_ 2012 _

“No...”

There was unmistakable sadness in Chell’s gaze as she looked up at the new arrival.

“You must be mistaken.” Calhoun shook her head slightly. “It can't have been that long...”

With an effort, she pulled herself together. “What can you tell me about outside this lab?”

Chell shrugged.

_ NOTHING YOU WANT TO HEAR _

_ ALIENS HAVE TAKEN OVER _

_ I TAPPED INTO A RADIO ONCE _

_ NEVER AGAIN _

The blond woman felt her breath catch in her chest. Aliens. Invasion. This was all her fault. She hadn't been there and they had overrun the whole darn galaxy.

Her face suddenly dropped into her hands as she fought back tears. The first she had felt prick behind her eyes in over a decade.

It was over. She had failed humanity. She had nothing to go back to now. They were probably all dead. Her squad, her commanding officers. All because she hadn't been there.

Chell looked up and her eyes widened in alarm. Her hand flew across the page.

_ YOU'RE SAFE HERE _

_ YOU CAN ESCAPE _

_ FIND A PLACE OUTSIDE THE CITIES _

Fighting to keep herself under control, Calhoun looked up and read, then shook her head.

“No. No, I can't. This is all my fault. I failed them.”

Chell frowned.

_ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT _

A dry chuckle escaped Calhoun’s lips that echoed eerily in the small space.

“Those aliens you heard on your radio? It was my job to eliminate them. Now they've taken over because of me. I've failed in my duty.”

Sitting back, Chell watched the woman across from her. She wondered if she would have made any difference in humanity's fight against extraterrestrial invaders. She realized she was seeing her now as fragile as she probably had ever been. Could this woman have really fought and won against such evil?

Calhoun jumped and looked up as something touched her. She saw Chell watching her with round, curious, and sorrowful eyes. One hand was resting, comfortingly, on her shoulder.

As their gazes met, Calhoun forgot her tears. This time softly, she looked deep into the other woman's eyes and saw there a pain to match her own. Loss, torture, despair were all there, but also a hope. She could see that hope burning deep inside this veteran test subject's being. A hope so strong that even all the evil inside and outside this facility could never extinguish it.

Without realizing it, or even deciding to, Chell found herself moving closer, staring deeper into these new eyes. She could see pain, a pain so excruciating that the blond woman hadn't faced it, all these lonely years. She had buried it in duty, until there was no pain and there was no joy, only the duty existed for her. But now that was taken and the pain rushed in like a wave held back by a dam.

The wave broke over Calhoun and she found herself in Chell's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, hot, wet tears flooded down her face and it felt like her very soul was being split down the middle. It was her fault, she knew that and the knowledge was so heavy she felt it might crush the life from her.

“It's m-my fault h-he's dead!” She sobbed as her slender body shook with each anguished breath.

Chell's eyes widened but her arms closed automatically around the warm body. She had no idea who Calhoun was talking about.

Trying to draw away, Calhoun tried to think of the words. She needed to tell the other woman about the man she had loved and lost. But as she went to look into Chell's face, she felt a soft sensation. Their lips had brushed lightly past each other and now they froze, staring into each other's eyes.


	5. Chapter 5: The Spark

Chell felt electricity surge through her and her eyes widened in surprise. Deep inside her being, a need, long since forgotten, was making itself felt. Unknowingly, her hands had slid down the other woman's back and now rested comfortably on her voluptuous hips.

The former Sergeant’s arms slid around Chell's neck and though part of her told her this was wrong, the feeling of the impossible softness of the woman's neck made her thumb brush her jaw lightly. She watched as Chell's eyes closed briefly and her lips formed a contented smile.

Opening her eyes and looking back at Calhoun, Chell realized what was about to happen. She could see every detail of the woman's face, from her intense, piercing eyes, to her sensuous full mouth. And then their lips met and neither knew nor cared who had made the move.

Calhoun remembered what it was like to kiss a man, but it was nothing like this. The torturous softness of Chell's lips against her’s fanned the flame that had begun to flicker inside her.

The dark haired woman heard her breath quicken as they broke apart and something told her to dive down and press first her lips, then teeth to the other woman's neck.

Calhoun heard her own breath hitch as her neck arched back in ecstasy. Her trembling hands grasped for something solid as her mind floated in a sea of molten heat.

Cradling the blond woman's body closer, Chell’s questing lips dangled collarbones, earlobes, and jaw hungrily.

The fire was now raging inside the sergeant and her hands were moving in quest of her savior's skin. They found the white top she wore and were soon under it, smoothing ribs, stomach and back, wanting to feel every inch of that petal-soft creaminess.

Chell's lips faltered as she felt the strong hands moving across her skin and Calhoun took the opportunity to fasten her lips just below her ear. It was even better than she could have imagined. She tasted salt as a bead of sweat trickled down the back of Chell's neck. Calhoun moaned with need, wondering what other parts of this woman tasted like.

Suddenly Chell felt herself moving back and down. She looked up at the new test subject and saw her eyes were questioning, asking permission to take this heat to the next level. The answer was a crushing kiss as Chell thrust her tongue into the moist depths and caressed everything in reach. Calhoun responded by lashing the intruder as their breaths mingled in a steady, syncopated rhythm.

Breaking the kiss, Calhoun pushed Chell back on the pallet. Her mouth was immediately nibbling the other woman's stomach as the white shirt was lifted slowly, ever so slowly upward, revealing more and more skin. Chell thrashed impatiently, biting her lip as the sensations threatened to overwhelm her, nipples growing hard in anticipation.

Finally, Chell felt fingers slip carefully under her undergarment and then it was all off and a warm wetness encompassed one of her small breasts making her eyelids flutter. Calhoun's tongue whirled teasingly around her nipple as her hand brushed lightly around and over the other. Both hinting at what was possible, teasing out the pleasure, building anticipation.

Chell could feel that anticipation as a solid wall in her chest. She gasped silently and dug her nails into Calhoun's shoulder, mutely begging for more. Grinning, the blond woman obliged.

Her mouth flew to the other breast, her lips and tongue moving forcefully over her exposed flesh as her hands whisked the top half of her jumpsuit off.

And then their flesh met, both bare-chested and pressed so close Calhoun could smell the sweet, spicy scent of Chell's sweat. Their bodies moved together and Chell's hands slid up and down Calhoun's spine making her jerk and cry out in pleasure.

Now it was Chell's turn. Her eyes suddenly flashed and before she knew what had happened, Calhoun was on her back watching Chell's hands slide away from her, down her stomach and making short work of the zipper on her jumpsuit.

“Ch-Chell...”

Her head fell back on the pallet as Chell's warm hand slid down, disappearing into the orange fabric. The dark haired woman felt hot, moist flesh and began slow and gentle stroking movements, feeling for the small knob she knew was there. Her eyes flicked up to watch Calhoun's face.

Her eyes were fluttering, half closed and half open. Her mouth formed the delicate “o” of a soft moan and her neck arched back in pleasure.

Then the jumpsuit was completely gone and Chell slowly slid one finger inside her new lover. The sight of this slender, supple body completely open and her's to play with made her go deeper and she was rewarded by a gasp from Calhoun. She added another finger and began a slow, steady rhythm as her head lowered.

Calhoun cried out again as a quick tongue nearly brought her to climax with the first flicker. Lips were applied next and the sweet suction she felt had her hips convulsing as she felt fingers slide in and out, deeper with each movement. Deeper, quicker, the tongue flickering around her sensitive spot until she screamed out her orgasm and her body became rigid.

Chell grinned and looked up at the once proud sergeant, lying, twitching and panting on her pallet. Then Chell was naked and slithering up to gaze into Calhoun's eyes. She placed a gentle kiss on her parted lips as she began to grind her hips against her lover's.

Fresh streaks of lightning shot through Calhoun's body as Chell moved against her. Her dripping flesh pressed up and began moving in sync.

Both pairs of eyes closed as two sets of lips came together in a passionate kiss that caused a war of tongues as each fought for dominance.

The grinding of their hips began to move faster and faster as Chell's body tensed, longing for release from this sweet torture. She broke the kiss to take a last breath as she felt herself release.

Calhoun too gasped as, for a second time, the climax shook her body. She clutched Chell to her as the ecstasy seemed to go on and on.

Their bodies shuddered down from a simultaneous orgasm and each drew frantic breaths as they slowly became aware of their surroundings.

Calhoun looked up at Chell, whose eyes were only half open, and kissed her lightly. Rolling over, she pulled the other woman close and sighed with deep contentment as she closed her eyes.

“I'm staying here with you, Chell.”

Chell could barely raise her head to look gratefully up at the other woman and as she drifted off to sleep, she knew she would never have to bear her duty alone again.

 


End file.
